A wounded sea turtle gets a new lease on life as scientists reconstruct its damaged beak using 3D printing technology.
Turkish rescue workers discovered the injured a loggerhead turtle dying after an accident took a large piece of animal's beak right off its face.
They immediately took the 99-pound turtle to the Sea Turtle Research, Rescue and Rehabilitation Center at Pamukkale University in Denizli where scientists nursed the animal back to health by feeding it by hand.
While under their care, the rescuers gave the sea turtle the name Akut-3.
In order to restore the ability for the loggerhead turtle to eat on its own, the scientists at the rescue facility contacted the Turkish company BTech to create medical prosthetics that would replace the lost portion of the turtle's beak.
By examining CT scans of the sea turtle taken by veterinarians, a research team from BTech reconstructed the Akut-3's missing beak using 3D computer software called Mimics Innovation Suite.
They first recreated the upper and lower parts of its jaw and printed them using medically-approved titanium. The researchers then surgically attached the newly created prosthetics to Akut-3's beak.
According to reports, the BTech team said the surgery was difficult but they were able to successfully attach the titanium beak on Akut-3. The sea turtle is currently recovering from the operation and is given antibiotics to ensure its safety.
The rescuers from Pamukkale University plan to release Akut-3 back into the wild once the turtle is fully healed.
Akut-3 is not the only animal to benefit from medical prosthetics made using 3D printing.
In March, Information Technology student Roger Henry from Denver's Colorado Technical University (CTU) recreated a prosthetic shell for an injured tortoise named Cleopatra.
Members of the Canyon Critters rescue team found the tortoise in poor health and its shell severely deteriorated. Cleopatra's condition was so bad it had prevented the animal from interacting with tortoises. The injury had made the tortoise susceptible to infection.
Henry spent 600 hours working with the city's 3D Printing Store in reconstructing Cleopatra's shell. Once finished, Henry and a team from the CTU's IT Department fitted the new prosthetic shell on the animal.
The success of the operation on Cleopatra has led CTU's Dr. Lanka Elson to draft a curriculum for a course where people can learn about practical applications of 3D printing.
Photo: Deeje | Flickr
